You really do need to develop skillful qualities now. You can’t wait until tomorrow or next week or next month or next year. You need to do this now. After all, you could die at any moment. - Thanissaro Bhikkhu
One of the main reasons why people are ungrateful is ignorance. People who are ungrateful do not see the wisdom of dependent arising. Their narrow-minded and egoistic points of view erroneously lead them to think of themselves as special—they are the sole contributor of success and they are the only one making everything possible! They do not see the dependent nature of their relationships with others, with the community, and with the environment, not to mention their links with their predecessors and future generations. The American investor Warren Buffett explained with great humility and insight that his wealth is a tremendous win from the ovarian lottery, i.e. he was born in the right place, at the right time, to the right family. - Ernest Chi Hin Ng
The path to awakening is built out of very ordinary, day-to-day things, like mindfulness and alertness. It’s simply that when you learn how to look at them in a new way, to analyze them in a new way, and to develop and use them in a new way, they can take you all the way to awakening. - Thanissaro Bhikkhu
One should keep himself detached and discretionary. One should perform every action without any attachment and as a service to God Almighty. Look at life as an impartial viewer or witness. - Swami Ramdev
It's not commonly known that Elvis did yoga, and did so, long before it was popular. The "King" was so taken with yoga that he taught asanas to his friends. One of those was a woman named Sterling Hofman. Elvis gave gifts to Sterling and her husband out of appreciation for their friendship. He also taught Sterling yoga as well as giving her a signed copy of a popular book on yoga. Sterling Hoffman learned well and began teaching yoga to a group of people with multiple sclerosis.
In order to be our true selves, we need to let go of and transform our false selves. We need to shed inauthentic personas and acknowledge our creative genuine selves as well as our own inner, spiritual natures. - David Rosen
Just reflect for a while when you have failed in an attempt. Try to be more careful in the next attempt. Try to remove those factors that led you to fail previously. - Swami Sivananda
We cannot attain true peace of mind merely by seeking our own salvation while remaining indifferent to the welfare of others. - Philip Kapleau
It’s remarkable the number of people who consider themselves Buddhist practitioners who have no problem going online and using really abusive language toward the current president, disregarding all the ideas from the tradition about right speech and equanimity. Why is it that we’re able to disregard those beliefs so easily? It’s this sense of righteous indignation that allows the anger to erupt, the belief that I am right. - Mindy Newman
BUDDHIST MONK STRANDED IN KENTUCKY DUE TO COVID-19 . . . AND, HE LIKES THE PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY9/24/2020
Phunstok is a Tibetan Buddhist monk from India who has been stranded in the small community of Hopkinsville, KY due to Covid 19. The monk, who was scheduled to return to India in May 2020, had to delay his plans because of travel restrictions. Phunstok has been visiting Hopkinsville (population 31,577) since 2009.
That year he met Dr. Ken Casey, a philosophy professor at Hopkinsville Community College, who was visiting India. Casey invited Phunstok to lecture at the community college. The monk has since become a yearly lecturer at the college and visitor to Kentucky. He has been using his extended stay in Kentucky as a retreat saying: “All this time in Kentucky is a retreat for me. It’s a good place to retreat. There’s a lot of trees, a lot of birds. Also, so many nice people.” |
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
October 2024
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